Estonian online poll a world first

Friday 2 March 2007 19.01 EST
First published on Friday 2 March 2007 19.01 EST

The tiny Baltic nation of Estonia, whose parliament once declared internet access a basic human right, has become the first country to allow voters in a general election to cast their ballots online.

More than 30,000 people had voted via the internet three days before tomorrow's parliamentary poll, officials said. Voters used their state-issued digital ID cards, which are swiped on readers that can be bought for about €4 (£2.70), and input two passwords. Estonia says security issues are dealt with by this use of microchip cards and by allowing multiple votes, each cancelling out the previous one.

Observers said the vote was a sign of advances since the nation of 1.3 million split from the Soviet Union in 1991, when half the population had no telephone. The capital, Tallinn, has more free wireless internet hotspots per head than almost any other city, cabinet meetings are held online and most people bank on the internet.

Online voting has been tested in local elections in the UK and Ireland, but security concerns have prevented wider use.